Apparatus for making indelible imprints on sheet material



April 12,' 1927. v1,624,552

G. KIRKEGAARD APPARATUS FOR MAKING INDEIJIBLJ IMPRINTS ON SHEET MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F'led Dec. 140. 1924 l @yf INVENTOR y April" 12, 1927:

- 1,624,552 G. KIRKEGAARD -APPARATUS FOR MAKING INDELIBLE IMPRINTS 0N SHEET MATERIAL Filed Dec. 10. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR l Georgl /f/'M'egaard Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

UNITI-:n STATES PATENT orrlcE.

COMPANY, F NEW YORK, N. Y.,

e. oonronnfron oF NEW YORK;

APPARATUS FOR MAKING INDELIBLE'IMPRINTS ON SHEET lv'ILf-L'JERIAL.y

Application yfiled. December 10, 1924; SeralNo. 754,885.

rIhis invention relates to safetycheckwriting devices for printing or marking designs or marks on` sheet material, such as checks.

There are many forms of checlrfwritersv nowin use by means of which the amounti of money for which a check-is drawn is iinpressedin orprinted' on' thebody oil the-1 che'ckf-insome1-suitable manner as by'numbers, words, or b'othf Suchldevices, although-1 voided" or removed by chemicals, by pres-k sure, or in some other manner.

This invention has for its salient object to so impressor print marks on aA check that the `marks cannot be-Voided, erasedor eliminated.

Another object of the invention isy to provide a check writer so constructed as to coact withv a chemicallyv prepared check to v print"or impress thereon marks -that cannot f bevoidd, erasedf or otherwise eliminated from' the check.

Another'job'ject'ofthe invention is to provide al check Writer having heated dies or type' adapted to coact 'with' a check-chemically preparedl in such' a manner that the heated dies will indelibly print on the check thef desired marks 'orindicias 'y Further objects ofthe `invention vwill appear vfrom the' `following specification taken ill-connection with t-he drawings, which form apart of-this application, and in which- Fig.L l isan elevational view partly 'broken away and partly in section ofaimachine constructed'inaccordance with the invention;

' Fig. 2isa top plan view of the constructionsliownin Fig.l 1. f

Fig; 3*? is -a transverse-sectional elevation of the machine shown in=Fig: 13

Figl is ato-pplanv viewof a'ch'eck having marks thereon printed by the machine illustrated -in Figs.' 1, 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a 4detail'sectionv showing the means for conducting the electric current to thel carriersfof thetype or'dies. .Y

The invention briefly described consists ofa check'writer comprising a plurality of carriers or disks rotatably mounted and each having' thereon a plurality or" words or numbers. The disks are'rotatabler to bring any of the indicia thereon intoeoperative;A position.'` The machine falso has ay pluralityzf of pla/tens, each platen'being adapted'to coactwith. the. typeA orV dies ron one ofthe: carriers and @means is f-provided 'l for elevatevv ing the` platens :tolraise the check into,p'osi; tion.. to be marked 'or printed :by the. :dies:1

The f dies or typ'eik are electrically heated and the checkisr chemically. treatedl in' such i a manner that the contactl o.the-' hot k: die: with the checkZ will cause* the :type: to print onth'e checkithe'desired'lindicia or marksi t-has been found that a checkprepared by impregnating or soaking the paper or the portion thereof to be markedf or printed in a-solutionof' sugar and weak sulplruric acid will give the desired result, vbutitwiIl be understood that other chemicalsmay be used'to obtain thev same objects.

Further details of the invention will appear yfrom thfef following description.

The machine particularly illustrated in the'drawings comprises-'a plurality ottype carriers 10 rotatably mounted on alshaftall which inturn-is carriedlby a casing-12.4

The carriers are independently" rotatable and each carrierhas secured thereto alliandle 13which extends through a slot ltinthe casing-12j f I Each' carrier has secured theret'o a=-rackl15 having a plurality of notches or grooved depressions 16 therein adapted (to coact with a roller 17 mounted inlugslS carried bya resilient supporting member 19,*

Each carrier also :has mountedthereon a plurality of vdie plates 25 and agplurality 90 yof dies or type 26, the marks on the plates 25 corresponding to the marks on the type or dies 26. v

These marks are so relatively' arranged that when one of the marks 25 appears in an 9 opening 27 in the `casing 12, the-corresponding typeor die will be disposed in operative position' above the platen.

y It is proposed in this lmachine to heat the dies and in theparticular'embodiment of the inventionillustrated the current" for heating thedies is led to the carriers b v means of'resilient brushes 30, two brushes being provided for each carrier.y The brushes Vat'their inner ends engage metallic strips 31, insulated from each other, and

have a wiping action on these strips as the carrier is rotated, thereby maintaining the elect-ric circuit. The strips 31 are connected to high resistance or heating wires 32 dis posed beneath the dies or type 2G.

The brushes 30 are mounted in binding posts 3? and Si which are infuriated 4from the casing and are connected to lead Wires $55 and 86 which in turn laid to a socket 3T. .A plug 3S connects the socket to an outside source current.

In the present embodiment olf' the invention, a sepa ate platen is provided for each carrier. Each platen comprises a vertically reciprocable bar Li() slidably mounted between guides il and provided with an opening therein. Slots 43 are formed in the guides 4l and each platen bar is mounted on and has extending therethrough a metallic resilient strip e115. The bar #i0 is preterably rounded as shown at i0 at the edges oi the opening 42.

The strips a5 are secured in any suitable manner as by screws a? to lugs i8 which extend downwardly from a check supporting surface Li9 formed on the base 50 oi' the machine. The guides al are also secured as shown at 5l to the under surface oi the su port 49.

1in order to raise and lower the strips 45 and with them the` platen bars at), the iree ends 52 of the strips are disposed in engagement with cams 53, one cam being pro vided for each strip.

The cams 53 are mounted on a cam shaft 5ft, which is journaled in the base 50 ot the machine and a crank 55 is secured to one end of the cam shaft,

As the cam shaft is rotated, the resilient strips 45 will be raised and with them the platen bars 40, thereby raising the paper into engagement with the type or dies above the platens.

The type or dies on the carriers may be arranged in any desired manner and in the embodiment of the invention shown, the dies on the left hand carrier in Fig. l are num bered from one to nine inclusive and each of the dies in addition to the number has thereon the word I-luiidred. In Fig. ai, the letters 0i' the number are tapered in one direction and the letters of the word Hundred are tapered in the opposite direction, this being the convenient and practical form of type. rlhe impression on the check shown in Fig. li of the lett hand carrier die reads Three hundred.

The other carriers and in vtact the lett hand carrier may bear thereon any desired indicia and the check illustrated in Fig. 1i is `drawn for Three hundred seventy eight thousand six hundred sixty-five dollars forty two cents ($378,665.42). it will be understood that any desired check up to the amount of $999,999.99 can be drawn on a machine constructed as illustrated in the drawings and, oi course, carriers and type may be so arranged as to draw a check for any amount Without in any way changing the invention.

The check paper to be used in the machine above described is specially prepared by impregnating the paper with a suitable chemical solution. (.)ne solution that has been 'found satisfactory includes sugar in solution plus weak sulphuric acid.

When a check so prepared is placed in the machine and the dies are heated in the manner above described, the operator will rotate the crank 5i thereby causing the platcns to raise the check into coactive relation with the heated dies. The action oiE the heated die on the check will cause to be indelibly printed on the check the amount tor which the dies have been set.

The dies are raised to a moderate temper ature and not a high temperature so that the check is not burned by the action of the heated dies thereon, but is permanently discolored. The chemically prepared check obriates the necessity of heating the dies to a high temperature to burn the check, but impression made by the dies is clear, distinct and indelible, and cannot `be voided, erased or otherwise eliminated without destroying the body of the check.

Although one specific embodiment of the invention has been particularly shown and described, it Will be understood that the invention is capable of modiica-tion and that changes in the construction and in the arrangement ot' the various cooperating parts may be made Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, as expressed in the following claims.

That I claim is:

1. A check Writer' adapted to coact with a chemically treated check so as to produce indelible impressions thereon, comprising a pair of selective type carriers, means for heating the type on the carrier and means for moving the check into Contact With the heated type.

2. A check writer adapted to coact With a chemically treated check so as to produce indelible impressions thereon, comprising a plurality of selective dies, means for heating the dies and means for moving the check into contact with the heated dies.

A check Writer adapted to coact with a check which has been treated with a heat responsive chemical so as to form perma nently discolored impressions thereon, comprising a plurality of oscillatable selective type carriers, means for heating the type on said carriers and -means for moving the check into contact with said heated type.

et. A machine adapted to coact with sheet material treated with a heat responsive chemical so as to permit permanent discoloration of portions thereof, comprising a plurality of dies, means for heating said dies and means for moving said lsheet material into engagement With one of said dies.

5. In combination, a machine having a plurality of rotatable selective carriers, each carrierl having a plurality of dies on its periphery, means for heating the dies of each carrier, a movable platen adapted to coact with the selected die of each carrier, and means for simultaneously elevating said platens.

6. In combination, a machine having a plurality of rotatable selective carriers, each carrier having ay plurality of dies on its periphery, electrical means including members having a wiping Contact with conductors on each carrier for heating the dies ot' each carrier, a movable platen adapted to coact the platen and a cam engaging said strip for elevating the platen'.

8. A check Writer for use With a chemically'treated check comprising a plurality of selective type carriers, means for heating the type, means for supporting said check, a movable platen for each carrier and means for raising each platen to cause the check to coact With the heated type, whereby the type will mark the check.

9. Ina ycheck Writer, a carrier having a plurality of sets of type thereon, each set of type comprising two Words superimposed one on the other, the letters of one Word gradually decreasing in height from one end of the Word to the other and the letters of the other `"Word gra-dually increasing in height Ifrom one end of the word to the other, whereby the small letters of'one of the Words will be disposed beneath the large letters of the other Word so that adjacent Words will overlap.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of December, 1924.

GEORG KIRKEGAARD. 

